On the 21st of February 2020, a 38-year-old man from Codogno, in the province of Lodi, not far from Milan, became the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Italy. Everything was about to change in the country, and it took its citizens some time to truly come to terms with this. Here are some of the most important moments that marked the course of the first one hundred days since the virus’ “discovery”, as well as some of the lessons learned that will hopefully lead to a better future both for ourselves and the planet.

 

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Prelude

January – February 2020

This year marks the beginning of a decisive decade in the fight against the climate crisis. It’s our last chance to turn things around as we have less than ten years to repair the damage inflicted upon the planet and reverse the uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources. On the 31st of December 2019, the harm we’ve caused so far was about to turn against us.

On that day, at 13:59, the Chinese government announces the discovery of several cases of “pneumonia of unknown cause” originating from a wet market in Wuhan, in Hubei Province. Over a matter of weeks, the number of cases in China rises significantly, as well as the number of deaths. The cause is the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2. The virus causes the disease Covid-19, whose symptoms are very similar to those associated with the flu, and it’s thought that it was passed onto human beings by some of the animals killed and sold at the market. The situation spirals so dramatically out of control that the authorities decide to put off New Year celebrations – one of the country’s biggest holidays – and close all public spaces. In addition, emergency hospitals are built in record time to cope with the enormous and constantly growing number of cases and deaths.

In a world where the step from the local to the global is smaller than ever, it’s only matter of time before the virus starts to spread with devastating consequences the world over.

Read more: Coronavirus and wildlife, can zoonotic diseases decimate the illegal trade in wild animals?

The beginning

Friday 21 February

On Friday the 21st of February, SARS-CoV-2 is officially diagnosed in Italy for the first time. The news no one wanted to hear makes its way onto the front pages of national newspapers: “Coronavirus, first case confirmed in Codogno. The man hasn’t been to China”. Mattia Maestri had been taken to hospital a few days prior because of respiratory issues, initially diagnosed as “bilateral pneumonia”. He hadn’t been to China recently, he was athletic and in good health, so there was no cause to suspect he might be suffering from Covid-19. The discovery that some weeks beforehand he’d seen a friend who works in Shanghai is only made thanks to a nurse’s thoroughness. And so, a test is administered.

This is the decisive moment in which Italy officially records its first case of coronavirus. Everyone who had been in contact with Maestri is put into isolation and all his interactions are retraced in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. That afternoon, the first of many daily press conferences – headed, among others, by Attilio Fontana, the President of Lombardy Region, Giulio Gallera, the region’s Welfare Minister and Roberto Speranza, Italy’s Health Minister – is held at Palazzo Lombardia, in the regional capital, Milan. The situation is tense but seems to be under control, for the time being.

Italy’s first coronavirus death and Lombardy’s first lockdown

Saturday 22 – Sunday 23 February

Another worrying turn of events takes places during the night of Saturday the 22nd of February. A 78-year-old man dies from coronavirus. His name is Adriano Trevisan, from Vo’ Euganeo in the province of Padua. The man had been hospitalised ten days earlier because of pre-existing health conditions, but his situation deteriorated so quickly that “there wasn’t enough time to transfer him,” in the words of Luca Zaia, the President of Veneto Region. New cases are confirmed in Lombardy, Piedmont, and Veneto, northern Italy’s three largest regions. The numbers start growing so quickly that it’s almost hard to keep track.

On Sunday the 23rd of February, Italy’s cabinet passes the first in a long series of legislative decrees aimed at containing the spread of the virus and managing the “Covid-19 epidemiological emergency”. Fontana approves a decree – valid across the whole of Lombardy – that suspends public gatherings, closes all schools, and partially shuts down bars and restaurants. It’s the beginning of confinement, quarantine, lockdown: a series of measures that will paralyse the entire country over the following weeks.

Italy becomes third, after China and South Korea, for number of cases

24 February – 1 March

“The virus travels faster than we do,” Angelo Borrelli, Head of the Italian Civil Protection, tells one of the country’s main newspapers, Repubblica. In less than a week, Italy becomes the third country in the world for number of cases, behind China and South Korea. A “red zone” is established around the worst-affected municipalities: no one can enter or leave, and a capillary system of infection control is instituted. The atmosphere at the daily press conferences detailing the crisis reflects that felt across the country: one of tension, confusion and a bit of fear.

We shouldn’t be afraid of animals but of what we’re doing to their habitats

1 March

The month of March starts with a newfound awareness that though coronavirus may have come from animals, the main problem is the destruction of habitats on the part of human beings. 70 per cent of the new diseases that have emerged in the last thirty years have been of zoonotic origin. Most of these come from wild areas but others still originate in factory farming facilities, which represent a serious danger to public health, as the swine flu and bird flu epidemics demonstrate. The responsibility for the coronavirus pandemic, therefore, lies unquestionably with human beings. A healing process can only take place if we choose to repair our relationship with nature.

Read more: How factory farming breeds deadly viruses and epidemics

In our interview with Ilaria Capua – a virologist, veterinarian and professor at the University of Florida renowned for her studies on flu viruses such as bird flu – she urges us to act intelligently, because to the coronavirus we’re just another host animal to infect. “Its closest ‘family member’ can be found in bats,” she tells us. “The virus used to be restricted to bats in the jungle, but it suddenly moved to live animal markets. In these rudimentary facilities faeces, urine, and butchery waste abound, as was the case for many European markets in the 1940s and 1950s – with the difference that many different animal species interact in them. For example, Chinese markets sell pangolins, snakes and frogs. Therefore, an unnatural scenario developed in which the jungle bats were exposed to other animals that amplified the virus, modifying it to the point that it was able to be passed onto human beings”. Essentially, a jump from one species to another occurred, known as spillover. Once more, we’re reminded that the cause of the epidemic is to be found in ourselves.

You can’t go wrong if you respect nature, and in fact we need to respect it more.Ilaria Capua

The contagion curve surges, Lombardy and 14 provinces are shut down

2 – 8 March

The first week of March is pivotal. The contagion curve sees an unprecedented surge, passing 5,000 units. Deaths are also rising rapidly, increasing by a factor of seven in just a week. The government decides to adopt a series of drastic measures in an attempt to contain the nationwide spread of coronavirus. The first step is to “shut down” Lombardy and 14 other provinces across the regions of Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont and Marche, which leads to widespread panic.

On the night between the 7th and 8th March, train stations are besieged by people trying to get back to their hometowns. They’re terrified by the prospect of having to be separated from their loved ones during a time that’s shaping up to be one of the hardest in living memory. By doing this, however, they’re just helping the virus to spread. An investigation carried out by Repubblica shows that on that night, 20 per cent of passengers alighting from night trains headed to Puglia, in the south of the country, have a temperature.

The lockdown starts and gatherings are banned. Coronavirus is declared a pandemic

9 – 15 March

“In time, given our recommendations, we’ll find all of this again. Hospitalisations, including in intensive care units, as well as deaths are increasing. Therefore, our habits need to change. Starting from now. We all have to make sacrifices for the good of our country. And we have to do it now”. With these words, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte begins his press conference on Monday the 9th of March, the first of many over the coming months. In it, he announces that the whole of Italy is considered a protected area, a status resulting in the banning of all non-essential travel. In the following days, the measures become even more restrictive and Italy – like China before it – falls into an almost “familiar” lockdown, a sad routine that will continue for months to come. The key slogan is “io resto a casa” (I’m staying home) as avoiding gatherings being a necessary condition to flatten the curve and stop the spread of the pandemic.

In short, without these strict measures, hospitals would have reached their breaking point in a matter of days, leading to the rapid filling of all intensive care beds and leaving many people without the possibility of treatment. The contagion curve would have increased exponentially and in a short span of time the entire population would have contracted the virus, even if asymptomatically. This would have been disastrous for Italy, especially considering that the percentage of people over the age of 65, those most at risk, is the highest in Europe: 35.7 per cent, according to Eurostat.

Social distancing becomes the only way for people to protect themselves and those around them. Italians, however, find a way to show they’re still united, starting a trend that will be praised and replicated around the world. At 18:00 every evening people go out onto their balconies to sing, dance and play music together. It’s a moment for everyone to share a sense of togetherness despite social distancing.

On Wednesday the 11th of March, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declares that the coronavirus has reached the status of a pandemic. At this time, there are 118,000 confirmed cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives. But the situation will only get worse. In the days following the announcement of the nationwide lockdown, Italian cities are emptied, their atmosphere eerie and surreal. Life in public spaces is put on hold, shutters are lowered, offices closed, events cancelled and people lock themselves in their homes, in the hope that this contributes to the situation being as transitory as possible.

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